Wu Shun is drawing a detailed map of the city defense observed in Huaizhou during the day. When he finishes drawing one, you look at one.

You add to his diagram the places he missed.

You look at his drawings and say, "Good. Keep at it, and you will do better and better. ”

Wu Shun looked at the place where you had changed, and said a little dejectedly: "It's still a lot of leaks." ”

You say, "Practice a lot, and you won't miss out." ”

Wu Shun said: "The Lord Xue I saw today seems to be very good to you." We asked for everything and gave it to us, and we didn't feel embarrassed at all. There was no request, and a lot was given. In the future, there is no need to come to Huaizhou Mansion every time for the New Year's Festival. Moreover, as long as you don't leave the boundary of Huaizhou Prefecture, you can act casually, and you don't have to report to the top before and after. ”

You continue to revise the details of Wu Shun's paintings, and you say, "It's not good for no reason." He always desires more from me than he gives me. As for whether to report or not, it doesn't matter in the first place, he will send someone to monitor me, where I go, he also knows if he doesn't report, why not avoid the trouble of reporting and be a favor. As for freedom of movement, I don't have any military position, and I can go wherever I want. ”

Wu Shun said: "Why did he invite us to the private residence for dinner? ”

You laughed: "He wants to tell me that he has never treated our Cui and Ding clans as outsiders." We should not ignore his heart. If he gets in the way, he can still hurt me a lot. ”

Wu Shun said: "Since he has ulterior motives, you still promise him to go?" ”

You say, "If you don't go to his mansion, how can you see his flaws?" To be precise, it is Huaizhou's flaw. ”

"Flaws?" Wu Shun asked puzzled.

You said: "Junzi, do you feel that the location of this Jiedu Envoy's Mansion in Huaizhou is a little wrong." ”

Wu Shun said: "I feel it too. The location of this mansion seems to be a dead place. It's easy to be surrounded and trapped, and there's no way back. ”

You say, "That's right." If the entire city is breached by the enemy, and the enemy has already arrived in the market in the city, then the people in this mansion are easily stuck by the enemy and have contact with the outside world, and it is difficult for the people in the mansion to escape. ”

Wu Shun said: "Why did the Jiedu envoy build the mansion in such a dead alley? ”

You said: "Because the previous three Jiedu envoys were all strong men, and they came to Huaizhou with the heart of death to live and die with the city, and they never thought of abandoning the city and escaping. This mansion was built by the first envoy of the first king of the time. The location of this mansion is to inform the soldiers and civilians of the whole city that if Beihu attacks, in addition to coexisting and dying with the city, the Jiedu envoy has never had any other thoughts. ”

Wu Shun said: "It turns out that the house was not repaired by Lord Xue." ”

You say, "Yes." Lord Xue just lived in the former mansion as usual. ”

Wu Shun said: "If he was allowed to build it himself, he would definitely not choose this dead end." ”

You say, "That's right." This Lord Xue is not a person who is willing to live and die with the city. If you look at the exquisite furnishings and valuable collections in his house, you will know that he is a person who does not have the heart to die. He is very eager to live, even if the city is broken, he will never be martyred in his position. However, after he took office, he did not dare to live in this mansion without following the rules. I am afraid that if I move out to live separately, I will be impeached by the speaker. When the first king was there, he despised the chief official who was greedy for life and afraid of death. He didn't want to touch the taboo of the previous king. ”

Wu Shun said: "Then he lives in this house, isn't it very heartwarming?" ”

Say, "Yes, he must have been troubled from the day he moved in." But do you think he'll settle for his worries and not do something about it? ”

Wu Shun shook his head and said: "It doesn't look like it, he has a very flexible mind, not like a person who has no way." ”

You say, "Therefore, he will arrange a passage in the mansion where he can transfer the people and valuable things of the family as a last escape when he is besieged." ”

Wu Shun's eyes lit up and said, "Secret Dao!" He suddenly realized: "It turns out that you praised the exquisite design of the house, and hoped to visit it in order to find this secret passage." ”

You say, "That's right." If he built a secret passage, where would it lead? ”

Wu Shun said: "It must be convenient for him to escape to the place where he wants to escape the most." ”

You say, "Let's imagine where is it easiest and most likely for him to flee?" ”

Wu Shun thought about it blankly and shook his head to indicate that he didn't know.

You say, "The most suitable place is the Maple Grove Ferry." There is a 50-year-old pier here, which has been abandoned for many years because of the new and larger pier, and the surrounding woods are very deserted. There are very few marks on the map. If you are not a local who has lived there for many years, you may not know it. If you hide some boats at Fenglin Ferry, you can go down the river without being discovered, and it only takes half a day to reach the territory of Wanqiao County on the border of Minzhou. Lord Xue's eldest son-in-law, that is, Yan Xiaoyong, the eldest son of Yan Fangcheng, the chief soldier of Yantang Pass, was a county official in Wanqiao County. And the magistrate of Minzhou also happened to be the same year as Lord Xue, and he was a close friend when he was young. ”

Wu Shun was surprised and said, "How can you know so many things? ”

You say, "Because I did a lot of homework before I stayed in Qingchuan and came to Huaizhou to meet me." Do you think that when Brother Fu was training with his brothers and Zhang Bao was working with the craftsmen, I was locked up in the barracks alone, sleeping? ”

Wu Shun stuck out his tongue.

Wu Shun said: "If this Lord Xue wants to harm our affairs in the future, we can use this secret path to blackmail him, right?" ”

You shake your head. You say, "It's a use, but that's not what I'm thinking." This secret passage will be an excellent surprise passage for future sieges. As long as you find the entrance to the secret passage and have a strange army, you can enter the Jiedu Envoy Mansion without much effort, capture the Jiedu Envoy in one fell swoop, and then, from the Jiedu Envoy Mansion into the city, hold the Jiedu Envoy hostage to order the defenders. The city can be broken in a moment. The fortified cities and deep moats of Huaizhou, which have been built since the time of the first king, have all been bypassed, and they are useless at all. ”

Wu Shun was shocked: "It turns out that you are still thinking about breaking the city." This trick is too ruthless. When Lord Xue cultivated the secret path, he definitely didn't expect that this was a shortcut to the siegers. ”

Say, "When a city is built, it is broken." He repaired it himself, so he didn't have to dig in the ground later. ”

You say, "So, we can't go back tomorrow or the day after tomorrow." I'm going to wander around the city, see the sights and sights, and visit my father's old protégé. However, you can't be idle. You are to take people, disguise yourself as the local people, and go out of the city quietly, to the Maple Grove Ferry, and find me the entrance to the secret passage. If you can't find it, I'll have to find a reason to stay in Huaizhou. It's very expensive. I hope you can move quickly, because this is all Qin'er's dowry, and it can't be wasted on it. ”

Wu Shun said: "No problem. I'm the best at digging into the ground to find something. In Qingchuan, no matter where the delicious food is hidden, as long as I want to find it, I can catch it. Leave it to me. ”

You glanced at Wu Shun. You say, "You don't have to find such a high-sounding reason for stealing food when you were a child." Gluttony is gluttony, and gluttony must also be above board. ”

Wu Shun smiled. He asked, "Where is the other end of that secret passage, did you find it when you followed him around the courtyard?" ”

You say, "Under his cushion in the study." ”

Wu Shun said: "How can you see it? ”

You said: "His courtyard is obviously designed by a famous artist, and it is very orderly everywhere, and the orientation, orientation, color, and collocation are very particular." I took a turn and felt that everything was normal. Only this study is a bit strange. ”

You say, "First of all, this study is newly built, and the materials are still very new, not left over from the previous festival envoys." Secondly, the location of this study is not quite secluded, but at the intersection of multiple passages in the inner courtyard, and a fairly flat and spacious road has been built to lead to the bedroom and the storeroom, etc., without the interest of winding paths. Then, the foundation was soft, and in order to strengthen the house, the builders also built a wooden foundation on top of the soft soil, and the house was slightly suspended from this soil. Inside, the main seat of the study is not facing the entrance, but is located on the left side. When guests come in, it is easy to mistake it for a guest seat and plan to sit on it, but Lord Xue will guide the guests to the right and front positions in a timely manner, and always keep himself sitting on the left side. The floor cushion in this position on the left side is also larger than the other cushions. Why does it have to be that big? Because the entrance to the passage below should be built a little bigger, otherwise, so many treasures will not be able to move in. Why is the entrance on the left? Because the ground below the positive and right positions has a large stone slab in the ground. When building the secret room, if you want to open the entrance on the front and the right side, you have to break this stone slab, this is a big project, the movement cannot be small, if you make such a big movement, the secret room will not be secret. Dig an entrance on the left, it's much quieter and less troublesome. ”

Wu Shun said: "Lord Xue will regret inviting us to eat this meal at home in the future, and even more regret inviting you to the study to talk for a while." ”

You smile and say, "There's nothing to regret." If he hadn't invited me in, we wouldn't be sitting here talking and drawing pictures now. I'll see for myself. ”

You say, "Okay, then finish the rest of the city defense map, and then show it to me." I will also draw the distribution of the forces of the Protectorate of the Jiedu Embassy. In addition, I also plan to write a letter to my uncle, asking my uncle to give a special gift to Lord Xue during the Mid-Autumn Festival. He cooperated today, and we should be grateful to him. ”

Wu Shun said: "Let's see who dares to invite you to dinner in the future." You're probably the most terrible guest in the world. ”

You smile and say, "Okay." The next time someone invites me to dinner, you will eat it on your behalf, so that you don't always remember the story of stealing food in Qingchuan. ”